The Impure
by MoonlitJC
Summary: REPOST! They are few, but powerful. They live humbly, and only in death is their power unleashed. And one was sitting under our noses this whole time. Mick/Beth, Josh/Beth. Chapter 9 now up!
1. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE!!!!!**

Hello fellow Moonlighters!

I first posted this story last June, but was subsequently called away to a very remote part of the world (remote enough not to have internet), and returned last September. Since my first posting of this story I've tackled my first semester of college, got over some pretty hardcore homesickness, and did a lot of growing up.

I'm reposting this story for several reasons. One, I think it's good. Good enough to try again, at least. Second, my writing has gone to the proverbial crapper since I've stopped Fanfic writing. I know, I know, it's hard to believe, but these fics help me practice my skills so that my original works are stronger. Third, they provide a lovely distraction from the horrors of problem sets and math midterms and other awful collegiate things.

So here it goes again. A repost. The first 7 chapters are nearly the same, save some minor stylistic alterations and corrections. After that, it's all new.

**This fic will deal with lots of romance, even though my writing style and the first few chapters deal with heavy duty supernatural stuff. My favorite stories are the ones that mix romance with something extra...a little _weirdness_, if you will.**

Thanks to my old readers and reviewers for their lovely comments.

OKAY! Disclaimer time!

**A/N:** Pay attention to the a/n's!! Important stuff goes on in these little blurbs.

**A/N: **I don't own this. None of it.

**A/N: **This fic spoils the entire series, really. Deal with it. But it's kind of AU. Also, deal with it.

**A/N:** There will be romance. There will be blood. If romance and blood turn you on (though hopefully not together…) then this fic is for you!

Summary: They are few, but powerful. They live humbly, and only in death is their power unleashed. And one was sitting under our noses this whole time. Main pairings: Beth/Josh, Beth/Mick.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1

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**_**Love Lasts Forever…

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**_

Her screams penetrated the air. The sirens matched her pitch in the distance, droning with the imminence of fatality. The kidnappers were spread out over the scene, one dangling from the limb of a tree, the other face-down on the windshield, a shard of glass through his eyeball. And all the while, he waited and listened.

He watched the scene from the side of the woman he loved. She was terrified, enraged, heartbroken. He reached out to her shoulder and felt nothing, saw nothing. His corpse lay on the ground, his precious blood saturating the bone-dry soil. The man leaned over the body, taking a pulse. There was none. She screamed louder now, shouting at the P.I. to turn him, please turn him. The P.I. stayed silent and stoic, his back toward the dead man. And the dead man tried to scream, but there was no voice left. He strained to feel his nonexistent body, to reach out and touch the love of his life one last time.

Though he was nothing more than a shadow, he was acutely aware of his surroundings. Though he had no eyes, he saw the color drain from the woman's face, the black tears staining her cheeks. Though he had no nose, he smelled the blood, the incarnadine fluid draining from his corpse, feeding the arid dirt. Though he had no ears, he heard the sirens blaring in the distance, one after another after another, at least three cars racing towards the gory scene.

He turned toward the P.I…

_St. John._

St. John was always around these days.

His eyes were blank, his lips pursed as he walked towards the vehicle with the dead kidnapper sprawled across it. But he was stopped in his tracks by the woman's screams, new screams, no longer of terror but of confusion.

"Mick! Oh my god Mick, he's gone! Josh's body is gone!"

* * *

R&R.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2

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**

_**We remember the dearly departed…

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**_

"Mick! Oh my god, Mick, He's gone! Josh's body is gone!"

Mick turned to face Beth, his face serious, his mind racing to find the words he would use to soothe the hysterical blonde reporter. "Beth, he's dead," he would say. "He's dead. I'm so sorry, Beth. Please calm down." She would cry even harder as the ambulance pulled up, her head buried in the arms of her deceased lover. And Mick would handle the cops.

But the vampire turned around and saw that Josh's body had indeed vanished. His blood stained the soil, but there was no corpse. Beth shrieked louder. Mick couldn't breathe. This wasn't supposed to happen. _This wasn't supposed to happen._

_Things like this don't happen anymore._

And all the while Josh stood staring at the area where his mutilated corpse had once rested. _Things like this don't happen._

"What the hell happened here?" the police office shouted from the passenger seat of his vehicle, the window rolled down. He grasped the gun tighter as he stepped out of the car and towards the imposing man and the crying woman.

"My fiancé is gone…he's gone…"

"We don't know what happened, officer," Mick added, thinking on his feet. "Josh Lindsey, her fiancé…he called her a little while ago saying that he's been kidnapped, and that he was holed up in the trunk of a car. We traced the call and found this…" He pointed towards the totaled car and the man sprawled across it.

"And exactly _who_ are you?"

"Mick St. John. I'm a private investigator."

"St. John. I've heard of you." The cop stated, a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

An ambulance pulled up before the cop could say more, and four paramedics jumped out of the truck. Within seconds, two paramedics grabbed a stretcher to lift the kidnapper off the car, while the other two attempted to coax the other stunned (yet relatively harmed) kidnapper out of a tree.

Sir, Mr. Lindsey is still out there," Mick lied. Of course he knew better than to pretend that Josh was still alive…he'd died only minutes ago, right where he was standing. He'd seen the light disappear from the eyes of Beth's beloved.

Beth glared at Mick. "What are you doing, you son of a bitch? He's dead! He's DEAD!" She wiped a tear from her eye with her bloodstained hand, leaving a trail of Josh's blood from her cheek to her lip. Her eyes were red, and her voice cracked in her arid throat. Mick took a sharp intake of breath at Beth's outburst, but convinced himself that what he was doing was for the best.

The officer sighed. "We don't know that yet, Miss." The officer sighed. "God, this is a massacre. Well, let's round up the guy in the tree and get him in for questioning. St. John, you mind coming down to the station with me? We'll just need to file a report and fill out some paperwork, you'll be out in a few hours."

"Not a problem, officer. Just give me a minute."

Mick walked slowly towards Beth, who was kneeling in the dirt, the blood on her jeans already starting to dry…

"Wh-why did you say that?" she whispered.

"Beth you gotta trust me…I think I may know what happened to Josh, but we're gonna have to keep the cops thinking he's alive…It's for his own good," Mick replied, his voice barely audible. "Just trust me, and I'll tell you everything later."

Beth nodded in accord, but gritted her teeth as Mick tuned his back to her and began to walk away.

"Damn it, Mick, you better know what you're doing."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**

* * *

**_**It's better to burn out than to fade away…

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**_

The dead man stood at the scene, his nonexistent mouth agape at what St. John was telling the cops. Of course St. John knew that he was dead! Why would he bother lying to the police about the body (or lack thereof?)

St. John made his way towards the police car. Josh debated staying with Beth. He knew, however, that he needed to see what the _heck_ Mick was going to do about his murder. So he moved closer to Beth, for what he was sure would be the last time, before he headed off to the cop car. And he could have sworn, if he hadn't known better, that he felt the warmth of her body, never more alive than at this, her most vulnerable moment, on his icy skin.

* * *

It took an hour to get to the station, thanks to ridiculous rush-hour traffic. Mick had never found L.A.'s infamous gridlock more irritating. He wanted to get to the station _immediately_.

He had some unfinished business with Josh's murderers…he needed to find Tejada.

The officer directed Mick into a large, antiseptic room, bisected by a thick glass barrier. Mick eyed the kidnapper, sitting in a rickety wood chair on the other side of the glass, his arms folded and his feet resting on the metal desk in front of him. He was cocky, shooting Mick a glare as the P.I. entered the room.

Another cop, dressed in a tailored blue suit, stood in the room with the kidnapper. His face was stern, but tired. He'd been interrogating the man for some time now, and couldn't even get the man to respond in _English, _let alone confess to anything. The interrogator shrugged, and walked out of the room.

"This guy's not singing. Lindsey has him on file, and we know he's involved with Tejada…He definitely knows what's going on."

Mick saw his opportunity. "Officer, if you don't mind…Let me try him."

"I don't think—"

"Just give me five minutes. Five minutes, and if I don't have anything you can pull me."

The cop sighed. "Fine. Five and you're out."

Mick strolled into the glass room, trying to keep his rage in check. The kidnapper didn't recognize him from the scene. His feet remained on the table and his arms remained crossed.

Mick sat on the icy metal table, right in front of the criminal, so the cops couldn't see his face.

"I'm gonna ask you a question, and you probably should answer it." Mick threatened.

The kidnapper muttered something in Spanish. Mick closed his eyes momentarily, letting rage consume him. His irises went white, his canines descended, forming sharp, thirsty fangs.

He would kill this bastard if he had to. After what he did to Josh.

"Es el Diablo!"

The Kidnapper wasn't so tough now.

"_Where is Tejada?" _Mick growled.

And the canary sang. The kidnapper was crying now. Mick's faced returned to its human form. He turned and strolled out of the room.

* * *

In the car, driving towards Tejada's bar, Mick's enhanced senses picked up on a presence in the passenger's seat. It was hardly visible, almost like a fog. He could hear a distant noise. But the vampire was so intent on his mission that he paid no attention to the disturbance, and floored the accelerator.

Josh sat in the passenger seat.

"WHY DID YOU SEND THEM THE WRONG WAY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ST. JOHN?" He shouted, drawing on every ounce of his strength to make Mick hear him. After hours of silence, he was startled by the sound of his own noise. But the sound was still muted and muffled, and Josh himself could barely hear it over the rush of the wind outside his window. Mick was driving 30mph over the speed limit and climbing.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

Mick turned and looked at the passenger seat, and Josh could have sworn that he saw the mysterious man crack a smile.

The doors of the bar flew open. The bar was seedy, at best. Naked women danced in cages, sweaty brunettes and bleached blondes, moving their hips to the rhythm of the pulsing reggeaton music. Men sat at small round tables, chugging Corona's by the dozen while they played poker, their guns neatly hidden in their pockets in case someone tried to cheat. The place was foggy, and smelled of liquor and old cigars.

Mick walked over to the bar table.

"Where's Tejada?"

The bartender shrugged, and the melee began.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4

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**_**Some have called you mighty and dreadful, for you are not so…

* * *

  
**_

Josh watched the scene in horror. In the blink of an eye, Mick St. John—normal, mild-mannered, mildly-intrusive Mick St. John—transformed into a killing machine. His irises turned white, the pupils contracted in a vicious stare that sent chills up the spine of every hardened criminal in the room. He took one bullet, then another, but they only seemed to feed the beast. He flung the bar patrons around like they were feathers, broke stools and tables like toothpicks. And all the while those eyes, those dead-man's eyes…

And then came Tejada.

Josh followed Mick into the poorly-lit back room, where Tejada was already holding his gun, ready to kill.

_He found Tejada…St. John actually did it…_

"You come to my place to spill blood? Now I'll have your blood!" Tejada shouted. But Mick would have none of it. He pinned Tejada against the back wall and struck.

Tejada screamed, a frantic plea for mercy, as the vampire's fangs pierced his flesh.

Josh cried out, a wave of cold pain escaping his throat as he watched the impossible scene. _I'm in hell…_

Mick withdrew from his victim. He stood up calmly and brushed the dust from his suit, and wiped his mouth of the stick red fluid. His eyes faded to their usual brown and the fangs receded into his gumline.

Josh chased out of the dive. "What the hell are you, St. John?" He screamed, feeling his voice finally audible, growing louder. Mick started, but kept walking.

"I know you can hear me, Mick! _What are you?"_

Still no reply. Mick opened the passenger door and stared directly at where Josh was standing. Josh was growing more and more visible by the minute. At this point, Mick could make out the outline of his face and clothing, though barely.

Mick grimaced. _So it is happening…_

"Get in the car, Josh."

"Why the hell would I get in a car with you?" Josh shouted.

"Just get—"

"You just KILLED those people St. John! You killed like ten guys in there! Holy shit…holy shit. No goddamn way I'm getting in a car with _you!_ What the hell—"

"GET IN THE DAMN CAR!" Mick's heart was pounding in his chest. He needed to get Josh to safety, immediately. He wasn't about to take any heat from a thirty-year-old, he was too old for that. Josh was reappearing fast, and Mick wasn't about to let him wander around L.A. in his _condition._

Josh didn't expect that response. He saw something sinister creep into Mick's eyes, something powerful and vicious. He was genuinely afraid. He walked to the car and sat in the passenger's seat without contest, as though his limbs were moving of their own accord. He didn't know what was going on with Mick, with _himself. _He hadn't exactly had time to ponder his death—it had been a whirlwind few hours, and there were times throughout the day that he'd forgotten that he'd been shot just this afternoon. He half expected to wake up in his own bed, the sun shining through the windows, with Beth lying next to him, her hand over his heart. And it would all be a dream. An awful dream.

Josh reached to shut the door, but missed. He tried again. His hand kept passing right through the handle.

_This isn't a dream, this is hell._

Mick shut the door for him, before taking his seat behind the wheel. He looked somber, not at all angry like before. But Josh knew that he still had to be cautious.

_At least this son of a bitch can't kill me._


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5

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**

_**Out of the blue and into the black…

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**_

The first ten minutes of the car ride were quiet—painfully quiet. Mick's eyes never left the road, and Josh's eyes never left Mick. There was no trace of the monster that had been there before. No fangs, no blood. Josh secretly wished that those features had still been there. He wished that, for once in his life, the heroes and villains were clear cut in black and white.

A phone rang. Mick reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.

It was Beth.

"Don't you dare answer!" Josh ordered. "Don't you go anywhere NEAR Beth! If you hurt her, if you even LOOK at her, I swear I'll…I'll…"

Mick muted the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. The pair sat in silence once again.

"I only killed one man."

Mick didn't shift his eyes from the road.

"What do you mean, you _only_ killed one man?"

"Tejada. You said that I killed ten men—I just knocked them out. But I did kill Tejada. Because he killed you."

Josh snickered bitterly. "So what, you're some kind of revenge-happy psychopath?"

"Not quite. It's just that…for a guy like me, blood is revenge."

Mick looked at Josh. Josh noticed that Mick's eyes were tired, draped by purple bags that weighed down the handsome man's face. He was visibly upset. Josh found the chink in St. John's armor, and he had every intention of exploiting it. As far as he was concerned, Mick St. John was a killer.

"For a guy like you. How many people have you killed in your lifetime, Mick?"

There was no answer.

"How many, Mick?"

Mick sighed. "I lost count years ago…"

Josh didn't expect _that_ answer.

"Josh, Tejada was the first man I'd killed in a long time."

Josh laughed. "Oh, I'm so very proud of you. Really impressed. Such self control!"

Mick brought the car to an abrupt stop. They were in the middle of a highway, still miles away from the city. The sky was black, as opposed to the faint orange glow he was used to from the streetlights of L.A.

"Josh, you don't know the half of it. Look, I'm not gonna hurt you…well, I_ can't_ hurt you, considering your _condition._"

"Yeah, yeah. You know, I never took you for a murderer, St. John. I trusted you. _Beth_ trusted you. Oh god, if she knew!" Josh snapped.

"I'd never hurt you or Beth or anyone else, not anymore," Mick interrupted. "I've done my fair share of killing, but I've only killed the bad guys, as odd as that sounds. Tejada is dead because he was far too dangerous to live. End of story."

Mick predicted the next question out of Josh's mouth.

"What are you? I saw you back there. Your face was so different. You took bullets like the guy was shooting marshmallows. Your eyes…You're not human."

Mick prepared himself for what he was about to say. For a moment he wondered why he was willing to tell all, to give up the secret he'd been keeping for decades to some smart-ass lawyer. A dead one, at that.

But if what he though was happening to Josh was right, it wouldn't matter what he told Josh. Josh would have much bigger problems in the morning.

"You're right. I'm not…human. I haven't been human in a long time."

Josh was startled. Sure he'd asked the question, but he didn't entirely expect the answer.

"I'm a vampire."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6

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**

_**Lead us not into temptation...

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**_

"_I'm a vampire."_

Josh heard the words but didn't understand them. He couldn't understand them. The were meaningless syllables floating in the night air, impossible.

"You're an ass." Josh retorted, trying to keep what little composure he had left. "There's no such things as vampires."

"Said the dead man sitting in the passenger's seat…" Mick replied.

Josh kept staring at Mick, trying to find any hint in his visage that he was kidding. There was none.

"You're serious."

"Unfortunately."

Josh looked away from Mick and stared into his lap. Mick restarted the car and continued driving.

"So you suck people's blood? That's what you did to Tejada wasn't it? You sucked his blood and k-killed him." Josh swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, like sandpaper.

Mick hesitated before answering. "Yes."

"So you…you drink blood. People's blood."

_Oh god…_

"Okay, let's get this out of the way right now." Mick interrupted. Josh was shaking a bit in the passenger's seat, and Mick needed to calm him down. Now.

"Let's put it this way…I _can_ suck people's blood, but I get most of my blood from the blood bank."

Josh relaxed a bit.

"Are you immortal? And…and are all the vampire myths true? I mean, the coffins, the mirrors, the bats?"

Mick chuckled. "I _can _live forever, but I'm nowhere near that yet. I sleep in an industrial freezer. Garlic is fine, holy water is fine, crosses are fine. Sunlight sucks but I can stay in it for a while without getting _really _sick."

"Wow. So you don't burst into flames?"

"Josh, you've _seen _me in sunlight, for God's sake…" Mick interrupted.

Josh remembered. "Yeah. You did look kind of uncomfortable, I guess."

Mick continued. "As for mirrors…" he pointed at the rearview mirror at his reflection, and Josh understood.

"Film can't capture my image. Digital is okay, though."

"Wow. Just, wow."

Mick shrugged. "Not so much. At least not when you've lived it for fifty-five years."

"Fifty-five years! Holy crap!" Josh's eyes went wide as Mick laughed. For the first time that night, a brightness returned to the two men's eyes, if only for a fleeting moment.

Once the laughter subsided, the pair fell into silence once again.

Mick was the first to speak. "I think I know what's going on with you, Josh. Why you came back."

"How could you possibly know?" Josh answered. He was touchy with this subject, so his answer was terse and cynical. But no matter how hard he tried to abandon false hope, he began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the vampire had answers.

"Well, I _think _I know. I'm not sure. If it's what I think it is…" Mick paused. "Something like this hasn't happened in years. I mean _hundreds _of years. It's just impossible."

"Said the vampire sitting in the driver's seat," Josh added. For a fraction of a second, Mick could have sworn he saw the dead man smile.

"Not many people get a second chance, Josh. Nature just doesn't want it that way. It always comes back to collect."

A half-hour later, Mick pulled up beside a gorgeous apartment complex. Josh recognized the building, even at this hour of the night. It was home to the rich and famous of Los Angeles, the select few who could afford to live in the perfect part of town, in the perfect penthouse apartments.

"What are we doing _here_?" Josh inquired, marveling at the sight.

Mick smiled. "I think I may know someone who can help you."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7

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**_**Deliver us from every evil...

* * *

  
**_

"_Joseph Kostan_ is your FRIEND?"

The maid let Mick and Josh in. Josh was shocked that she wasn't frightened by his appearance—after all, he was only half-visible. Mick hadn't bothered explaining to Josh that the maid had seen much worse, working for Josef. She rolled her eyes at the dead man's question.

"Sorry if I'm a little star struck, but this is the richest guys in L.A.!" Josh exclaimed. "And you two are _buddies_? What, do you call him 'Joey' and drink lattes together on the weekends?"

"Not unless he wants to piss me off ," a voice rang from the hallway. There stood Josef, dressed in his usual black dress pants and freshly pressed shirt. "Well, Mick, it's nice to see you."

He turned and faced Josh. "Who's the ghost?"

"Josef, this is Josh Lindsey," Mick answered.

"Well, it's nice to put a face to a name, Mr. Lindsey." Josef replied. "Sort of."

Josh was feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. He didn't like Kostan staring at him, examining his every translucent feature with his sharp eyes. He cleared his throat quite loudly, and Josef got the message.

"What happened to you?" Josef said sarcastically.

"He's actually the reason I came here…Josef, I figured you might be able to shed a little light on Josh's _situation."_

Josef pondered this. "I'll do what I can, but you have to tell me what happened to Casper here. Come, let's go into the living room so we can talk."

Josef took a seat in his armchair, while Mick and Josh sat on the large leather couch adjacent to it. The room was elaborately, yet tastefully, decorated. Josh, though he really did not like Josef much, couldn't help but admire his home.

"Josh was shot." Mick began. "He had been kidnapped and as we were rescuing him, one of his kidnappers shot him. He died a few minutes later. But then all of the sudden his body disappeared. There's a few things that could have happened to him…"

"I'm listening."

"What if he's a—" Mick stopped. He knew how crazy his idea was. He'd only heard about things like this in urban legends. Nobody had any definitive proof that a human could become a monster overnight.

"What if he's, you know…_impure?"_

Josef thought about this for a moment. Then it hit him.

"Mr. Lindsey, I must say that I've been an absolutely dreadful host. I haven't even offered you a drink. Would you care for something?"

"Sure, whatever you have."

Josef walked into the kitchen, and pulled a pitcher of a suspicious looking red liquid from his refrigerator. He grabbed three glasses, and returned to his guests.

Mick immediately recognized the liquid as blood. Fresh from the tap. "Josef, he's not gonna want _that _stuff."

"Quiet, Mick, let my guest decide for himself. Josh, may I?"

Josh nodded, and Josef poured the blood into the glasses. He handed one to Mick and one to the dead man, who was barely able to grasp the glass. He was becoming more solid by the minute, but holding the drink was still a struggle. He raised it to his lips and took a sip.

Mick had never seen an eerier sight that that of the blood rushing down Josh's transparent esophagus and pooling in his stomach.

"That's really good," Josh gasped as he began chugging the blood. "What is it?"

"O-positive. A lovely year, I think this came from a twenty-year-old donor."

"What does that even mean?" Josh asked. He turned to Mick. "What is it?"

"Blood."

Josh spewed the contents of his mouth onto the floor.

"Hey, hey, hey! Not the carpet! Damn, now I'm gonna have to get the maid to clean this up." Josef complained. "We're really gonna have to get this guy trained. I hear the Dog Whisperer's in town."

"Why the hell did you give me blood?" Josh screamed at his host.

"Oh, don't complain, you know you liked it." Josef snapped.

Josh thought for a second. He did like it…he like it a lot.

"So you're a vampire too? I didn't see that coming." Josh commented.

"Yeah, well, I'm good at keeping up appearances."

"Josef, what the hell is going on?" Mick interjected. He was growing more confused and impatient by the minute.

Josef frowned. "You were right, Mick. I think we have ourselves a halfsie."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8

* * *

**

Now and Forever, Amen...

* * *

"What is a _halfsie?" _Josh questioned. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he liked the sound of it.

But Josef began his own stream of questioning. "Tell me about your parents, Josh."

"What does that _matter?_" Josh snapped, annoyed. Nobody was explaining anything to him, and he couldn't help his frustration. He was a lawyer! He wanted straight answers, none of this evading.

"It matters," Mick answered. He, unlike Josh, understood where Josef was going. "Just answer him."

Josh paused and thought for a second. "I was raised by my mom. Julia Lindsey. She still lives in our house in Pasadena. I didn't know my dad."

Josef cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't know him? Did you know anything about him?"

"Uh…Jeez, let me think…Well his name was Jacob Williams. I took my mom's last name…" Josh thought. "I never saw him, not even a picture. He and my mom didn't marry. He died or something in the mid 80s. She didn't like to talk about him, much."

"Do you know for sure that he's dead?" Mick questioned.

"Uh...Well that's just what Mom told me. I've never seen his grave or anything, or a will, so I guess there isn't any definitive proof."

Josef smiled and looked at Mick. "Oh, god, this is textbook! Absent father, this whole Casper business—God, Lindsey, you sure do play it by the book."

"What does my _father_ have to do with this?"

"Everything." Mick sighed. He looked utterly distraught.

Josh grew nervous. He shakily stood up and pointed an angry finger at Josef.

"Will you JUST tell me WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!" Josh screamed. He was shaking madly, petrified and angry and a billion other emotions all at once. "This is my LIFE, Kostan! I don't know what's going on, my girlfriend thinks I'm dead, and I'm sitting here with two vampires –VAMPIRES, for Pete's sake—and THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!"

Josh sat again, his legs too weak to support his ever-reappearing body. He coughed and sputtered, choking on his own saliva. Josef inhaled and turned from the dead man briefly. He did, in a strange way, feel some semblance of sympathy for the poor creature. So he checked his anger at the impolite outburst, and said quietly, without fanfare...

"Given the circumstances of your death, Josh, and what you've just told me about your father…I have reason to believe that you are half-vampire."

* * *

Mick and Josef lifted the dead man into Josef's spare freezer. They didn't quite know what else to do with him after he'd passed out. Obviously, the revelation didn't sit well with him. They left the freezer unlocked, turned out the lights in the room, and stepped back into the parlor.

"Seriously, Josef, he's half-vampire?" Mick asked. It was a pointless question—it had been his theory to begin with—but to hear it said out loud was…odd.

"Pretty sure. I mean, that's how it works. Vampire knocks up a pretty little human girl, obviously can't stick around to raise the family, ditches—"

"Yeah, but there were no signs of it before today, before he died," Mick mused. "Josh was perfectly human this morning. No signs at all"

Josef summoned what little knowledge he had of this strange subject. "If I remember correctly, that's exactly how it works. Human until death. Then, _bam_, they sprout fangs. We'd see it all the time if it wasn't for those pesky pre-zygotic barriers; Humans and vampires aren't normally compatible. It's extremely rare that someone like Josh turns up."

"How rare are we talking?"

"Josh is the only impure vampire I've encountered in my lifetime. There's one other on the books, from the 900s or something like that. Like I said, Josh is not just an anomaly…he's THE anomaly."

The conversation was interrupted by a phone ringing. Mick checked the call.

Beth.

_Not Beth…anyone but Beth…not now..._

Mick froze. The phone rang five, six times.

"Don't you think you should get that, hot shot?" Josef looked at the phone to see who was calling. "Oh…Blondie. I get it. I'm going out anyway. I had plans before you and the zombie showed up. I'll give you some time alone with the other two corners of this pesky love triangle."

Josef grabbed a black jacket from the back of a chair, shuffled his keys in his pocket, and looked at his friend one last time. "Take care of him, Mick. I'll be back later. Just…call if you need anything.

Josef disappeared out the door, and Mick was left standing, a ringing phone in his hand, a new vampire resting in the next room. He rolled his eyes at the absurdity of it all, before dialing his voicemail.

* * *

Beep.

"_Mick, it's Beth. Listen, I…I just…please, please call me."_

Beep.

"_Mick, it's me again. Wh-what's going on? I need you…I need you here. Please let me know what's going on. I'm just so confused…so confused. I—Oh, just call."_

Beep.

"_Damn it, Mick! Answer the phone! God…_

Beep.

Mick's finger shook a little as he hung up the voicemail. He selected Beth's number from his cell's address book, and hovered over the decision for a moment before finally pressing "Call."

He waiting. One ring, two, three, four rings. _After all that, not to pick up—_

"Hello? Mick?" He heard her say. Beth's voice sounded so small through the phone, so fragile. "Mick, are you there?" Her voice was practically a whisper, hoarse from crying all day, from screaming her lover's name into the dark midnight.

"Hi, Beth." Mick choked._ How do I tell her that Josh is…how do I even begin?_

"Mick, please tell me what's going on! You disappeared after Josh got…shot." Her voice hitched at the murderous word.

"Beth. Oh, Beth, Josh is…"

_No. Not over the phone. I can't break it to her like this._

"Josh is…alive." _Technically he isn't, but for all intents and purposes… _"He's here with me now. Asleep. I'm at Josef's place."

"Josh is—Oh, Mick, how? How is this even possible? Alive! Oh my god!" Beth screamed over the phone, so loud that Mick had to put the phone a foot from his ear to kill the noise. Beth squealed with delight for a few minutes, until her voice couldn't take it anymore, and she gave out in a hoarse whisper.

"Yes, Beth, he's sleeping in the guest room now." _In a freezer. In the guest-freezer. _

"Mick, I'm coming over now to see him—"

"NO!"

Mick didn't mean to shout, and he didn't mean to sound so panicked. Surely Beth, the talented journalist that she was, picked up that something was wrong just by the way he was talking. He attempted to reestablish calm.

"He's asleep, and he's really had a rough day. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, Beth. Just…I want you to rest now. You've been through so much…"

"But I _need_ to see him, Mick. I need to see with my own eyes that he's healthy and safe—"

"Tomorrow, Beth, please. We all need a rest."

"Okay, just—before I hang up…promise me he's safe. Tell me that he's safe."

"He's safe and sound, Beth. I promise."

* * *

Mick hung up the phone after calming Beth, assuaging her hysteria as he offered to stay on the line until she fell asleep. It took an hour of whispering calm nothings through the phone, his level voice thinly masking the nervousness that plagued him. It took an hour of whispers for Beth to finally sleep. When Mick finally heard the soft snores from the phone, he wished his love a good night and hung up the line.

It was 4AM now. He had about two and a half hours until daybreak, but Mick was exhausted nonetheless. He'd been keeping a pretty diurnal sleep schedule these past few days, in addition to staying up all night with Josh and Beth. Mick's was so exhausted he could barely stand. He needed sleep, now.

Josh had taking the guest freezer, and Mick was smart enough not to go anywhere near Josef's freezer (unless he wanted to wake up to a stake through his heart and a very angry Josef…) so he found the coldest place he could—the tiled kitchen floor—and rested his weary bones.

He slept for hours, but felt like he'd only just closed his eyes when he heard a blood-curdling scream emanate from the guest room.

* * *

TBC!!!!!!!! Stay tuned.


	10. Chapter 9

_Hello all! I come bearing gifts...a new, slightly filler-y, definitely melodramatic update! Thanks for reading and reviewing! MJC.  
_

**Chapter 8**

**

* * *

**_**If I look hard enough into the setting sun…

* * *

  
**_

Josh slept dreamlessly. Hours and hours of pitch black unconsciousness, a reprieve from the pressure and insanity of the previous day. But this deep sleep was abruptly ended by a sudden…_awareness_…Josh lay with his eyes closed for a moment, and enjoyed the odd sensation. He was freezing cold, yet not uncomfortable. He could feel every bone in his body, every molecule of his being, it seemed. He felt the clothes on his body, the fibers of his shirt and pants. They didn't seem so scratchy this morning…it was as though he could feel every last kink in the threading.

_What a nightmare_, Josh thought. _For a second there, I could have sworn…it seemed so real. Everything seemed so real. But, vampires, really? Josh, snap out of it…Of course it was a dream…that _alone _should have tipped me off right away…_

He kept his eyes closed. When had his bed gotten so hard? It was almost as if he was laying on a rock, or the floor. And noticeably absent was the familiar weight in the bed next to him…Beth, lying peacefully. Had she left for work while he was sleeping? Had _he _overslept for work?

Josh's eyes flung open, and what he saw was _far_ from the scene in his mind.

He was in a box. A freezing cold, glass box.

_I'm dead. I really died. I'm in the morgue, dead. Trapped. Dead. _

He couldn't breathe.

Josh thrashed in the freezer, bashing his clenched fists against the thick glass. He kicked and punched, his knuckles beginning to bleed from the impacts. Miniscule cracks formed as the glass gave under the onslaught. Josh rammed his fists against the top of the box, and to his surprise, the lid ripped off and flew across the room, crashing into the opposite wall, and shattering into pieces.

He was free now. Josh sat up in the strange box and looked around the room.

_This is the weirdest morgue I've ever seen…_

He was in a well decorating room, adorned with beautiful paintings and furniture. The walls were wooden and dark, and the room was stale, as though it had never been lived in. Josh carefully lifted himself out of the box.

_This looks like a house…but why am I here?_

And with that thought Josh remembered…

_Tejada. Mick. I was kidnapped…I was kidnapped and they shot me…and my body disappeared. And Mick…Mick killed Tejada. Mick bit Tejada and sucked his blood out. Because Mick is a vampire. "I'm not human…I haven't been human in a long time…" Vampire. Josef Kostan. Kostan fed me blood. I'm in Kostan's house. Josef is a vampire. "I think we have ourselves a halfsie." They asked my about my father. I know nothing about my father. But my father has everything to do with what is happening to me. Because Josef said that I'm half-vampire…_

_Vampire…_

…_Oh god. _

Josh bolted from the room. His mind was reeling, as he found himself in a long, dimly lit hallway. A door hung open a few feet away. A bathroom. Josh ran for the cover of the room, and slammed the door.

The bathroom was small, cramped, but immaculate. Josh collapsed onto the floor, feeling weak and lightheaded. He stood on his knees, his head buried in his hands and he prayed for the madness to end.

But suddenly, Josh detected something moving, just out the corner of his eye. He tentatively turned to face the source of the disturbance.

A pale, gaunt man stared at him. Was it even a man? Its eyes were pale white and cold. Its mouth was open, as though the creature was shocked, revealing sharp, glistening fangs. The man was familiar somehow…Josh had seen this face before.

Josh reached forward, and was surprised when something stopped it, like a wall. And the man had reached forward as well, his hand stopping in the same place.

It was a mirror.

Josh was definitely awake now.

He gasped in horror as he recognized the pallid eyes as his own. The purple rings under the dead stare. The mouth, transformed for killing, was his.

He didn't know what to do, except scream at the top of his lungs.

* * *

Mick ran to the guest room as fast as his legs would carry him. His heart pounded, terrified that something was wrong with Josh. He reached the room, and was shocked to see the freezer torn open, and Josh nowhere in sight.

He heard the scream again. Josh was definitely still in the apartment, and was definitely in trouble. Mick identified the sound as coming from the spare bathroom, and took off for the room.

When he arrived, Mick saw Josh cowered on the floor, face buried in his hands. He was shaking his head rapidly, whispering desperate prayers.

"Josh!" Mick called, alarmed. "Josh, what's wrong? What happened?"

"What happened?" Josh answered, sarcastically. "What _happened?" _He looked Mick straight in the eye, his ghostly eyes shooting daggers into Mick's. "Look at me! I'm a monster… I'm a monster…" Josh kept repeating.

Mick sat down on the floor next to Josh, and awkwardly put a comforting hand on Josh's back. He didn't know what to say to the desperate young man, where to even begin.

"How do I make it stop?" Josh whispered. "How do I make this go away?"

Mick sighed. "It doesn't stop, Josh. I'm sorry, I really am. I mean, you can still live a relatively normal life, I suppose…You can try to blend in, and I kept the cops thinking you were alive, so you still have your old job waiting for you."

"Except now I'll just have to drink blood and stay out of sunlight. Yeah, that's 'normal'" Josh hissed.

"Look, Josh. I know it seems like the end of the world right now. But it's really not. And whatever we need to do, we'll figure this out. I'll help you as much as I can." Mick calmly responded. "Promise."

"Do you like being a vampire?" Josh inquired, out of nowhere.

"What?"

"Do you _like _being a vampire? I mean, is it…how bad is it?"

"Huh." Mick responded. "You might have asked the wrong vampire…I mean, I don't necessarily _love _it, but, uh…"

Mick stopped. He knew he was lying to Josh. He was torn between the desire to comfort Josh and his true hatred of vampirism. He didn't know which was more important now, honesty or comfort.

"Being a vampire sucks." Mick began. "No pun intended. You sleep in a freezer. You drink blood. Your entire survival is parasitic. You're always careful, making sure you act more normal that anyone else, and that you don't slip up and do something out of the ordinary. Though you _do _have a built-in Halloween costume, that's definitely a perk…

"At the same time, I know that I couldn't help most of the people I help if I were human. It does have its advantages, I guess. Sometimes, when I'm really in the dumps about the whole bloodsucking thing, when I think about the lives I've taken…I remember that there is a way to make up for all of that, and that the list of lives I've saved _because _I'm a vampire is longer than the list of innocents I've killed. And I don't kill innocents anymore, I haven't for years. I have principles."

Josh nodded silently. Mick couldn't quite read his reaction, so he just kept talking.

"And if I was human…God, sometimes I freak out when I think of all the things I would have missed. I mean, computers and cell phones? When I was a kid, our idea of fun was kicking rocks at trashcans. And if I was human, I'd be long retired…I couldn't work as a P.I, or help anyone anymore…who needs an 85-year-old investigator mucking up crime scenes?"

Josh chuckled. _Okay, this is working, _Mick thought.

"Even though it can be bad sometimes, it's not impossible. You just can't forget your humanity. If you can just hang onto that, you'll be okay."


End file.
